Carroll Quigley, the late professor of history at the Foreign Service School of Georgetown University, was the author of "Tragedy and Hope; A History of the World in our Time." At Georgetown, Quigley influenced much of America's future elite including former President Clinton who praised Quigley in his acceptance speech at the 1992 Democratic National Convention. Tragedy and Hope, 1311 pages, offers profound insight into the philosophy and actions of much of the ruling elite of the world. This extraordinary book explains many of the factors operating behind the significant events of the first half of the 20th century.

On pages 437- 438, Quigley discusses the Reichstag fire, February 27, 1933, in which the German Reichstag, or Parliament building, was burned down just a few weeks after Hitler came to power. Quigley describes the fire as the result of a premeditated plot which led to the suspension of the German Constitution. There seem to be some rather ominous parallels to this historical event and the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, April 19, 1994.

A cursory look at the Oklahoma bombing raises several unanswered questions that seem to indicate a much more complex situation than the official "lone nut" theory that Timothy McVeigh, the worst terrorist in US history, was solely responsible. Several questions beg to be answered. Why was every badge-carrying federal agent absent from work on the day of the bombing?

Federal Judge Wayne Alley had an office is in the Federal building, and, according to his statement to the Portland Oregonian, was warned, several weeks in advance in a Justice Department memo, to be prepared for a "terrorist act" against the building.

Several people reported seeing a heavily armed and equipped bomb squad in the area of the Federal building hours before the bombing.

Charles Mankin, director of the University of Oklahoma Geological Survey, reported that, according to two different seismographic records, there were two blasts, eight seconds apart, at the federal building. In fact, news reports within twenty four hours of the bombing reported that there were two explosions.

This version subsequently disappeared from all media accounts.

According to "Military Explosives," the Army and Air Force Technical Manual No. 9 -1910, an ammonium nitrate bomb, the type in McVeigh's Ryder truck, could not have, by itself, done the type of damage done to the federal building. This is corroborated by Retired Air Force Brigadier General Benton K. Partin, former commander of the Air Force Armament Technology Laboratory and a 25 year expert on bombs, who stated the following in a news release; "When I first saw the picture of the truck bomb's asymmetrical damage to the federal building in Oklahoma, my immediate reaction was that the pattern of damage would have been technically impossible without supplementary demolition charges at some of the reinforced concrete bases inside the building, a standard demolition technique...reinforced concrete targets in large buildings are hard targets to blast. I know of no way possible to reproduce the apparent building damage through simply a truck bomb effort."

Gen. Partin was one of many explosives experts who expressed this opinion.

Why did McVeigh, a highly trained combat NCO, after bombing the Murrah building, speed out of the state at almost 100 mph in a yellow car with no license plate virtually guaranteeing that he would be stopped? National Public Radio, Jan. 1996, interviewed 6 witnesses who personally saw "John Doe II" in the Ryder truck with McVeigh on the morning of the bombing and yet none of these witnesses were contacted to testify by either the prosecution or the defense at the McVeigh trial. Why was the Murrah building, the main piece of evidence that could have unraveled the whole mystery, destroyed?

Anyone who publicly criticized the official version of the bombing, men such as Gen. Partin, were smeared and denounced with the usual epithet "right wing extremist." The term "right wing" is never defined. The implication is that they are either lying as a result of some sort of political motivation, or that they are crazy. The only apparent motivation from people such as Gen. Partin and others, is to objectively uncover the truth whatever it may be. The political motivation appears to exist on the side of those who seem to be suppressing the truth. What is the purpose of that motivation?

In the aftermath of the bombing, the Clinton administration blamed "right-wing" talk show hosts and militias. These slanders, the same type used by Hitler in the aftermath of the Reichstag fire where he blamed communists, have never been proven and were quite self serving. "Domestic terrorism" legislation was submitted to Congress within days of the bombing, some of it written and printed before the bombing. This proposed legislation included the virtual banning of private ownership of firearms, censorship of the internet, virtually unlimited ability for the government to use wiretaps, the suspension of habeas corpus rights in "terrorism" cases, and Sen. Charles Shumer's bill, H.R. 2580 which would impose a five year prison sentence for publicly engaging in "unseemly speculation" or publishing "baseless conspiracy theories regarding the Federal government of the United States". The government would grant itself the power to decide what constituted a "conspiracy theory."

Quigley, in Tragedy and Hope, points out that "The day following the (Reichstag) fire, (Feb. 28, 1933), (President Paul von) Hindenburg signed a decree suspending all civil liberties and giving the government power to invade any personal privacy, including the right to search private homes or confiscate property." Quigley goes on to point out that "Several people who knew the truth, including a Nationalist Reichstag member, Dr. Oberfohren, were murdered in March and April to prevent their circulating the true story". Nazi Germany used the premeditated Reichstag fire to weave it's own conspiracy theory as a justification for the suspension of the Constitution. The results of this action are well known.

Thank God the US is not Nazi Germany. Enough people in this country still understand our constitutionally guaranteed individual and property rights to thwart a Nazi style conspiracy to suspend those rights. A step toward preserving our freedoms would be a full and honest investigation of the bombing in Oklahoma City. Such an investigation, with the truth revealed, whatever it may be, would go a long way toward preventing a Reichstag type event, with its pre meditated consequences, occurring on American soil. Is there any doubt that such an event is possible and may have already been attempted?

Charles A. Morse is a nationally syndicated talk show host, the author of
"Thunder Out of Boston" and can be heard on the American Freedom Network at:
http://www.americanewsnet.com/

The Chuck Morse Show can be heard LIVE Monday through Friday 8pm - 10pm EST.
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